The fourth-ranked Duke women's lacrosse team improved to 7-1 on the season with an 8-4 defeat of No. 6 Princeton (1-3) yesterday afternoon at Koskinen Stadium.
Freshman Katie Chrest racked up three of Duke's goals, two coming early in the second half, to lead her team to the victory.
Based on stat sheets, it would appear that Princeton won. The Tigers took the same number of shots as the Blue Devils, registered nine more ground balls, forced more turnovers, and had 12 fewer fouls. They were unable to find the open net, however, and succumbed to the higher ranked team.
The Tigers jumped to a 2-1 lead in the contest after earning the first point on the scoreboard when Theresa Sherry sank an unassisted goal 5:06 into the game.
About a minute later, Duke senior Kate Kaiser notched her 18th goal of the season, and her 134th career goal, to tie up the contest. The midfielder became Duke's second all-time leading scorer.
With an assist by Elizabeth Pillion, Princeton senior Sarah Small gave the Tigers their final lead of the day, 2-1. Less than four minutes later, Duke's Lauren Gallagher ended Princeton's lead for good when she tied the game at two apiece. The senior earned her 17th goal of the season.
Duke closed out the first half with two more unanswered goals - one off a breakaway by defender Meghan Walters, from an assist by Caline McHenry, and the final goal of the half by Chrest on a free position shot, with only 22 seconds remaining.
The freshman scored Duke's first two goals of the second half, with a Princeton score by Elizabeth Pillion in between. Chrest currently leads her team in goals with 21 on the season.
With the Blue Devils holding a 6-3 lead, sophomore Kristy Dirks scored off a breakaway from Caline McHenry's assist, less than two minutes after Chrest's.
Princeton's final goal of the day came 12 minutes later from junior Katie Yakulis, on an open net. She was followed by Duke's Jessica Bennett, who finalized the contest at 8-4 with 22 seconds remaining.
For Duke, freshman goalkeeper Megan Huether recorded six saves on the day, the same number as Princeton's Sarah Kolodner.
The Blue Devils next travel to No.3 Georgetown Saturday.
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